Chair-clamp



0. BERGSTROM.

CHAIR CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17. 1919.

Patented Aug. 3, 1920. 2 SHEETS-SHEET l- O. BERGSTROM.

CHAIR CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17. I9I9.

Patented Aug; 3, 1920.

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,UNITED STATES IPA-TENT OFFICE.

OSCAR :annes'rnom, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, AssIGNon TO HANDY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINoIs.

v CHAII't-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

Application flled November 17, 1919. Serial No. 338,564.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR BERosTRoM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and .useful' Improvement in Chair-Clamps, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention is a machine for clamping the component parts of an ordinary chair, such as a dining room chair, together, the object being to hold the parts in proper position so that glue previously placed between the parts may dry while the parts are in desired assembled position with a resulting satisfactorily formed product. The objects of the invention are to provide a machine for accomplishing this purp ose'in which the chair seat is flush with the top of the main frame of the machine so that the operator may have ready access to the chair for the purpose of attaching corner blocks by screws in the ordinary manner; to provide a machine of this class which when once adjusted to form a chair of a; given type will, by proper manipulation, make all subsequent chairs exactly like the first one, this being important to assure the usual separable seat slipping into placewithoutany adjustment,.and to provide a machine of this class which is adjustable to different heights and sizes of chairs with a minimum number of parts. in the machine;

The invention consists in means for'carrying out the foregoing objects which can be easily and cheaply made, which is satisfactory in operation .and is not readily liable to get out of order. More particularly the invention consistsin many features and details of construction hereafter more fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like numerals represent the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine illustrating this invention in its'preferred form, a chair to be clamped being shownin the machinein the act of being clamped.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional detail view taken substantially on the line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view of the means for supporting and adjusting the chair verticall in the machine, taken on the line 3-3 of ig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detailview on the 1iI14.-4.0fFig.L

In constructing the mechanism illustrating this invention, a rectangular metallic framecomprising four side members 10, 12, 14 and 16 suitably secured together by any suitable means, such as shown in the drawings, is provided, the same rising from the floor 18 to such a height that the upper edges 20 of all the frame members are at a convenient height for a workman standing adjacent to the machine. This rectangular frame is made of sufiicient horizontal dimensions' so that a chair 22 may be inserted bodily inside the frame with the horizontal seat line 24 of the chair on 'substantiallythe same horizontal level as the. upper edge 20 of the frame, heretofore referred to. In the particularv construction here illustrated, the side frame'members 10 and 14 are parallel to the sides of the chair 22 when'it is placed in the machine. Between the frame member 10 and the adjacent chair is placed a clamping block. 25 supported on screw threaded rods 26 secured to. the block 25 by pin and'slot connections28 and slidable through lugs 30 on the side frame 10, these rods 26 being detachably securable in adjusted'position by means of adjusting nuts 32 and 33. By properly adjusting the nuts 32 and 33 on. a given screw, the angularity of mem ber 25 to a given chairworked upon may be varied. In practice,ithe chair is first placed within the frame with its centralv position for repeated operation on successive chairs of the same dimensions. In order to insure the face'of this 'aw 25, which contacts the edge 34 of the 0 air always remainin in true position, the block 25 is supporte upon a suitable bracket 36 corresponding to bracket 48 hereafter described.

In the same way side frame member 14 is provided with lugs 40 through which slide horizontal rods 42 to which are attached, by the pin and slot connect ons 4.4, pressure bar to its adjacent frame member by Screws 49."

This bar 46 is connected to a screw 50 by a ball and socket joint 52 whereby rotating the handle 54 on the end of the screw 50 outside a the frame member '14 reciprocatesthe'bar 46 to and from the edge 58 on the chair 22 which is opposite to the edge 34. The clamping jaws 34and 46, just described, are as shown preferably located in close proximity to the upper edge 20 of the frame where they engage opposite sides of that portion of the chair 22 which is immediately adjacent to the seat line 24 ofthe chair.

It is common praeticeto curve the legs ofthe chair of the type to be worked upon by this machine outward from the main bodyof the chair as shown in Fig. 2-. In the particular case here illustrated, this 1 makes the vertical rear line'62 of chair 22 an irregular shape, i. e. not a plain surface. In order to provide for clamping a chair of 25 this type, frontand back, a filler 64 preferably of wood is detachably secured to the inside of rear frame member 12 as for instance by the screws66. This filler 64 is'of such a shape that when the chair is mounted in the frame, seat line 24 of the chair is level with the top line 20 of the frame. This filler 64 conforms along the. entirebaek of the chair at the corners where the legs are located and consequently forms a rigid support for the chair to resist pressure from the ront. Such pressure from the front is applied at the top. by a presser bar 68 and further down the front by a presser bar 70, eachrespectively mounted to slide'in and 40 out on brackets 72v and 74 secured to the front frame member- 16 by. any suitable means as screws 75. Itotatablescrews 76 and 78 engagethe respective bars 68 and 70 through universal joints 80 and 82. Screw 76 carries, a hand wheel 84 and also a sproeketwheel 86. Over the latter travels a sprocket chain 88 operating ,over another sprocket wheel 90 on screw 78,. the result of this'construetion being that when the opera-.

0 tor rotates Wheel 84, he .reciprocates pressing blocks68 and backwardor forward asthe case maybe toward the chair in the machine. The presser bar. 70 is especially desirable when the chair is equipped with a stretcher '55 92. When these are omitted, the chain 88 maybe omitted and the bar 70 rendered-inoperative. In the drawings, the bars 68. and

70 lie invand move in the-"common, vertical plane, but-they may beadjnstedlwithin rea- "Q sonable 'limi'ts'toany. variation atanangle v thereto either by substituting a longer or shorter screw for one of the screws as 7 8, or by'moving one of the screwssho'wn, in-or out slightly to vary' the position of the adjacent .65 block before the belt 88 is put on, thus creating a" harmless distortion of the belt 88 from the vertical plane.

" In order to accommodate chairs of different'types, two opposite frame members in the particular case here illustrated, front 70 and back frame members .are connected by cross rods 94, two being provided parallel to each other. Resting on each cross rod are two vertical screws 96, screw threaded into lugs98 on chair leg-supporting table 100. Extending downwardly from the table are flanges 101 which prevent lateral movement of the table with reference to the rods 94. By independently adjusting the nuts 102 on these screws, the table 100' may be adjusted up and down at one-or all corners to exactlyv fit the bottoms of the legs of aparticular chair 22 which is to be clamped. V

In the operation of the device, the operator takes one chair ofa group to be worked upon, one after the other, places it in the machine, adjusts the table 100 up or down until the seat line 24 of the chair is level with-the top of the machine. With the chair I now centered in the machine, he moves block 25 into engagement with side edge 34 of the chair andsecuresit in place by fastening the screws 32. 'At the same time or previously, he places in-the machine a filler 64 conforming to the particular chair which is to be i worked upon. When this has been done, the

operator tightens up this chair and each succeeding oneplaced in the machine by properly manipulating the hand wheels'54 and 84 until the clamping bars controlled by them, properly clamp thechair. When a glven chair is clamped in the manner described, it is allowed to remain long enough so that the glue between the adjacent parts thereof can set after; which manipulates wheels 54 and 84 to release the chair, Having thus described myinvention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is: l

1. In mechanism of the class described, a

retaining frame of sufiieient size topermit a, chair to be, clamped to be inserted within it to a point where the chairseat is at approximately the top, of the frame, a chair leg supporting table vertically mounted in the lower portion of the frame, means for independently adjusting different portions of said supporting table with,reference to the frame." V

'2. In'mechanism ofthe classdescribed, a

retaining frameof suflicient size to permit a chair to be clamped-to-be inserted within it to a point where the chairseat is at ap proximately the topof. the frame, a chair 1.25

leg supporting table vertically mounted in the lowerf'portion of the frame, means for independently adjusting different portions of said supporting table with reference to the frame, and clamping devicesabout the the operator inside of the frame adjacent to the position assumed by the seat of the chair, adapted to be adjusted to a chair in the frame and clamp the seat portion together.

3. In mechanism of the class described, a main supporting frame within which a chair may be placed, a supporting table across the frame, a pair of rods extending across and carried by the frame below said table, and at least one adjusting screw threaded through the table to engage each rod to support the table therefrom whereby rotating one of said screws in or out adjusts the height of the particular portion of the table sustained by that particular screw.

4. In mechanism of the class described, a 7

frame within which a chair may be clamped, a pair of rods across the frame near its bottom, a table above said rods and extending over them, means extending from the table preventing sidewise movement of the table with reference to the rod while permitting reciprocation of the table with reference to the rod, and adjusting screws engaging the table and rods capable of independent movement to adjust the portion of the table adjacent to each screw with reference to its adjacent rod, for the purposes set forth.

5. In mechanism of the class described, an inclosing frame adapted to receive the chair to be clamped, means for supporting one side of the chair against lateral movement in the frame; a pair of clamping bars located on the opposite side of the chair position spaced vertically a substantial distance apart, and adapted to engage the chair, means for independently reciprocating each bar toward and from the chair within the frame, and one common means for simultaneously reciprocating said bars.

6. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with means for retaining a chair and supporting one side thereof in its lateral movement, a clamping bar adapted to engage the top of the chair at the seat line opposite to said chair supporting means, another clamping bar parallel to the first adapted to engage the chair at a point substantially below the first, 'a rotatable screw mechanism for each bar adapted when rotated to force its articular bar against a chair within the rame, and means for simultaneously operating said screw mechanisms to move saidbars in unison.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR BERGSTROM. Witnesses:

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, I MINNIE STERNBERG. 

